Method and apparatus for heattreating liquids



June 14, 1949. G, iIEGLgR v 2,472,998

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HEAT TREATING LIQUIDS Filed April 18, 1946 r INVENTOR.

Patented June 14, 1949 FICBE;

5 Claims.

vent onlre st s h he h at t atmen q ids.

Inhe he t eat hshtl quiq smhhs n he pasteurizing of milk-immatqi iee t tresui es and he ke, -has h ehl ms zr to, h t he liquid to a relatively low temperature and to hold t at is. t mp ra ur v qr a s ec fied period im Fo x mn a hth ast u izine of milk it m s t e asteur zed t a mp r ur of f om F-th l f F-, u be held tthis. m r ure or t rty minutes wherea if he m ,is .pas eu fiizfid at, a hi he mper ture o rhm 60 to .655 F sf ld for. shqrter e amely fii eehrsecs nd Thus, in these f eren hea r atin or past u z n s ems,

there must b a s h t ht al hol ng P id w i h, lows. ow the astehx zinshoneretihhr 7 Genes:

ueh lv it has een Pmeos s. uzhp. he li i at h ve hc t esthm gh.aoheat.exchan er o such design that relatively high (200 F; to 300 m a ure. willher achedin when tim of e rd 0i. wo sehhhq o sshi e Su h a a aties me hod r a l shrra he holding time ascompared to, present methods; it,

is subject to the serious disadvantagethat if the uppl of. flu d ithe heate lsi hh res du of the fluid on the walls otthe tubes ir the heater will burn thereon. This burnt residue on the be alls qe a vdeh ea e h e t ra fer here hrqu hz hat he. heat r mu t: be wi n om s for c ean n HJQ E he r t. s

ir n. the. tube Walls is so har h it s' y d fiicul f not ir u lly m oss l to e In aeeordance.withthe present invention there is provided a method of heat-treating or pasteurizing a liquid, be itrn ilk, citrus juice or the like,

at a very hightemperatur for ajshort interval to off the liquid-supply at or priqrto-the failure-- thereof; and substitutes a, water-supplytherefor. The various- -features and -advantages; --oi the invention will appear from-the detailed descrip tignand claims when taken withthe drawings in which Fig.; diagrammatically illustrates a pashr eihs s st m nc rpora i th p es t ineri iq Fi r 2 a qiesremiaat esh iha, r,

2'v modifi d mean Q E sen i the a meq i s failu hi he.- -liqhid -.l ,-Pp1y- At the left of-Fig, 1 there is indicated a tank 5 chhta in th r w i li mat s e u h as milk or; citrus juices, to be heated The raw liquid Pass s t h a ei aha thro h thr a valve ,1 with its valve. disc 8 in its lower pQSition asshown nd hrhh he pe 9 to. the. in t o a Pu p h s'pmhr is era y of the en- Staht displacement! .hrd ehl t n adap d v de er flu dat h. P es u e r m e um the raw liquid passes through the pipe I I; into the heater or pasteurizer. This pasteurizer comprises a tubular coil [2,iormed or stainless steel pipe or the like enclosed in a dome-shaped tank I3",'to which steam is supplied through pipe [4 from a steam source I5 under the control of a valve l6.- Valve I6 is positioned by a pneumatic type of temperature controller TC; having its temperature sensing bulhB'in the steam in tank l3 The liquid after being heatedtothe prescribed ''temperature in the soils [2-, is passed through a cooling unit comprising a coil or pipe I! similar to the coil l2 of the heater, coil 11 being immersed inaclosed tank '8 through which cooling water flows to reduce promptly the temperature of theheated liquid. On leaving the cooler 18, thecooled liquid pas-sesthrough the pipe l9 and through the valve 20 with its valve disc 2| in'its lower position (as shown), so that the cooled liquid flows through the pipe 22 to the flow diversion valve 23.

This flow diversion valve maintains its valve disc 24 inits lower position as long as the liquid discharged from the heater is at the prescribed temperature, so thatthe liquid will bedischarged from thepipe 25 into a suitable receiving vat (not shown). However, if the temperature of the liquid discharged from the heater is below the motor 28 of this valve to hold its valve-disc 24 inits lowermost positiom as-long-as the liquid is discharged iromthe-heater at the required temperature. off from the pipe 21, the restoring spring of the valve 23 servesto raise the valve disc 24 to its upper- -position wherein; itprevents the liquid However, when the air supply is cut from entering the pipe 25 but it allows it to enter pipe 26.

The control of the air supply to the pipe 21 is efiected by a solenoid-operated valve 28, the solenoid 29 of which is energized by an electric contact theremometer, when the temperature of the liquid discharged from the heater is of the prescribed value. This electric contact thermometer comprises a bulb 30 immersed in the pasteurized liquid and communicating through a capillary tube 32 with a Bourdon spring 33. This spring closes the contacts in the circuit of the solenoid as long as the temperature of the treated liquid, as it flows over bulb 38, is above the specified value. With the solenoid energized, air is supplied through the pipe 34 and the solenoid valve 28, thence through the pipe 21 to the diaphragm motor 28 of the flow diversion valve. If the temperature of the discharged liquid is below the prescribed value, the Bourdon spring will tend to wind up and thereby introduce a break point in the energizing circuit of the solenoid. The spring associated with the solenoid 29 will then operate the valve 28 to shut off the air supply from the pipe 34-, whereupon pipe 21 will exhaust through the escape port in the bottom of the solenoid valve. While the flow diversion arrangement just described is preferred, any other flow diversion arrangement may be substituted therefor in the system.

In accordance with the present invention, if the liquid supply fails or is about to fail, provision is made to introduce a stream of water into the coiled tube l2 of the heater so that the residue of the liquid being treated will be flushed away and therefore will not burn on the inner wall of the heater coils. In the present arrangement there is provided a pressure sensing unit, including the bulb 35 of a volumetric pressure device, such as shown in Tate Patent No. 2,037,949, granted April 21, 1936. When the liquid supply to the pump 10 fails, pressure will drop about the bulb 36 of the pressure sensitive element. This element communicates through a capillary tube 37 with a Bourdon spring 33. The bulb 36, capillary tube 3'! and Bourdon spring 38, which constitute a tube system, are filled with a liquid medium. Thus, as the pressure about the bulb decreases, the Bourdon spring 38 will tend to wind up, whereas on a higher pressure at the bulb the Bourdon spring will unwind. The free end of the Bourdon spring is connected through a link 40 to one end of a baffle element M which is pivoted at 42. The baflie element cooperates with a nozzle 43 to which compressed air a uniform pressure is supplied through a restriction 44.

In the normal operation of the system, the pressure at the bulb 35 is such that the Bourdon spring 38 tends to unwind. This will cause the baffle 41 to recede from the nozzle 53 so that the back pressure at the nozzle will decrease with the result that the capsular chamber M will tend to collapse to open the relay valve 45. As this valve opens, the air supply at pipe 46 tends to be connected to the pipe ll. When the pressure in pipe t! is thus increased, the plunger 48a in the valve 48 is raised to close the vent 49 and to connect the air supply through pipes 55 and to diaphragm motor of valve 7, so that its valve disc ii is maintained in its lower position. The compressed air in pipe 47 is applied through the needle valve 52 and to capacity tank 53. Thus, after a specified interval, determined by the characteristics of the needle valve and the capacity tank the plunger 54 of the valve 55 will rise to close vent pipe 56 and to connect the pipe 50 to the pipe 51 which leads to the diaphragm motor of valve 20. This motor holds the disc 2! of valve 25 in its lower position. Thus the valves 1 and 20 maintain their valve discs 8 and 2!, respectively, in their lower position as long as normal conditions prevail.

When, however, the presssure at bulb 35 drops due to the failure of the liquid supply, the Bourdon spring 38 tends to wind up, thereby tending to move the baflle M toward the nozzle 43. The back pressure at the nozzle 43 increases so that the capsular chamber 44 tends to inflate and thereby tends to close the relay valve 45, thus decreasing the pressure in pipe 41. The reduced pressure in this pipe permits the plunger 48a of the valve 48 to lower and thereby interrupt the connection from pipe 50 to pipe 5|. Thus compressed air is cut oii from the motor of valve 1 and the compressed air in the motor of valve 1' escapes to the atmosphere through vent 69. The return spring of valve 1 raises the valve disc 8 to its upper position where it shuts oiI the liquid from the pipe 5 and connects the water pipe thereto, so that water is now pumped through the heater tube [2.

As the pressure in pipe 5! drops, the compressed air in tank 53 tends to leak away through needle valve 52 during a predetermined interval of time. At the close of this interval, which is just short of the time necessary for the liquid to be pumped through the coil l2 and pass through valve 20, the plunger 5 of valve 55 drops. This action of the plunger disconnects the air supply in pipe 50 from pipe 51 and connects pipe 51 to the vent 56 so that the air in the motor of valve 20 escapes. The return spring of this valve 20 raises the valve disc 2| to its upper position so that this valve connects pipe 19 (which now contains water), to the drain.

The valves 1 and 20 maintain their valve discs in the positions last described, even when the pump restores the original pressure about the bulb 36 by the pumping of water through the system. This arises from the fact that the valve 48 and 55 are locked operated until a manually operated and normally closed air valve 55 is actuated to connect to the air supply through pipe 6| to the bottom of the valve 48. This raises the plunger 58a of this 'valve to connect air supply pipe 55 to pipe 5| and thence to the motor top of valve '1 to restore its valve disc 8 to its lower position after the liquid supply in tank 5 has become adequate. Air in pipe 5| gradually leaks through the needle valve 52 and in due time raises the pressure in the capacity tank 53 so that the pressure under the plunger 54 of the valve 55, raises this plunger to its upper position. This reconnects the air supply through pipe 51 to the motor top of valve 20. Valve 20 thus moves its valve disc 2| to its lower position so that the pipe I9 is again connected to pipe 22 and is disconnected from the drain. Normal heat treatment or pasteurization of the liquid is now restored in the manner described.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Fig. 2, the pressure sensitive tube system including bulb 36, capillary tube 3'! and the Bourdon spring 38, are omitted. Instead, the float 62 resting on the top of the liquid in the tank 5 is connected by a flexible cord 63, passing over the pulleys 64 and 65 to the right-hand end of the baflie 4|. The float operates the bafiie in the manner similar to that in which it was operated by the Bourdon spring 38, so that when the level of the liquid in the tank 5 reaches the critical low point, the bailie 4| will be lowered toward the nozzle. This results in actuating the valve 1, in the manner already described, to disconnect the liquid from the pipe 9 and to connect water supply 8 thereto. The remainder of the operation of the system is the same as that already described.

I claim:

1. The method of heat treating a liquid which comprises causing said liquid to flow from a given source through a heated path to heat said liquid to a predetermined temperature, delivering said heated liquid to a delivery point in response to the continued maintenance of said delivered liquid at said temperature, diverting said heated liquid back to said source in response to a drop in temperature of said heated liquid below said predetermined temperature, terminating the flow of said liquid through said path and causing a substitute fluid to flow therethrough when a predetermined minimum volume of said source is present, and delivering said substitute fluid to an alternate delivery point after it has passed through said path.

2. The method of heat treating a liquid which comprises causing said liquid to flow from a source under a given pressure through a heated path to heat said liquid to a predetermined temperature, delivering said heated liquid to a delivery point in response to the continued maintenance of said delivered liquid at said temperature, diverting said heated liquid back to said source in response to a drop in temperature of said heated liquid below said predetermined temperature, terminating the flow of said liquid through said path and causing a substitute fluid to flow therethrough when a predetermined drop in said pressure takes place, and delivering said substitute fluid to an alternate delivery point after it has passed through said path.

3. In a liquid treating system, a heater, a source of primary liquid to be treated, a source of substitute liquid, means for pumping said primary liquid from said source through the heater at a pressure in excess of a given value, means responsive to a drop in pressure of the liquid below said given value for disconnecting said primary liquid source from said pump and for supplying the substitute liquid to the pump, and manually controlled means actuated at the will of the operator for operating at least a portion of said first means for reconnecting the primary liquid source to said pump and for disconnecting substitute liquid source therefrom.

4. In a liquid treating system, a heater, a threeway valve having a primary inlet port and a secondary inlet port as well as a common outlet port, a pipe connecting said outlet port to said heater, said valve having a valve element movable to a primary position to connect said primary inlet port to said outlet port and movable to a secondary position to connect said secondary inlet port to said outlet port, a primary source of liquid connected to said primary inlet port, a source of substitute liquid connected to said secondary inlet port, and means responsive to a supply of liquid at said primary source for maintaining said valve element in its primary position and responsive to the failure of the liquid supply at said primary source for maintaining said valve element in its secondary position, whereby on the failure of said primary liquid the substitute liquid is supplied to the heater.

5. In a liquid treating system, a heater, a source of primary liquid to be treated, a source of substitute liquid, means for advancing the primary liquid through the heater, mechanism responsive to a drop in the volume of the primary liquid below a given value for disconnecting said primary liquid from the heater and for supplying the substitute liquid to the heater, said mechanism including locking means effective on operation to maintain the connection of the substitute liquid to said heater to the exclusion of the primary liquid, and manually controlled means operated at the will of the operator for releasing said locking means whereby said mechanism reconnects the primary liquid to said heater and disconnects substitute liquid therefrom when the volume of said primary liquid is restored.

JOHN G. ZIEGLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,100,326 Getchell Nov. 30, 1937 2,158,809 White May 16, 1939 2,159,110 Swarr May 23, 1939 2,236,087 Detwiler Mar. 25, 1941 

